


Scars

by ReneeoftheStars



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: burn mention, burn scars, death mention
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-09
Updated: 2019-01-09
Packaged: 2019-10-07 08:37:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 927
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17362655
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ReneeoftheStars/pseuds/ReneeoftheStars
Summary: After a mission gone wrong, clone trooper Riggs recalls the event that disfigured him.





	Scars

**Author's Note:**

> Written for tumblr blog celebrate-the-clone-wars writing Wednesday prompt: Mirror, Mirror.

Tripping over his own feet, Riggs staggered into the barracks and punched the control panel. The door slid shut behind him, blocking out the bustle in the rest of the compound, and he was grateful for the empty room.

He ripped off his helmet and chucked it onto his bunk, where it landed heavily, the visor facing him, as though it were watching him. Piece by piece he sent his armor into a heap in front of the bunk, old scratches marring the purple detail he'd put on the plating. Drying blue blood splattered his chestplate and gauntlets. Riggs shucked it all off until he stood barefoot in his blacks, his hands shaking.

They'd been too late to evacuate the colonists. A battalion of droids had swept through the settlement hours before Chimera Company had even entered orbit, decimating the population. Only those who had fled to the caverns were alive. The clone army had been greeted with wailing when they'd finally made it to town. Riggs had held a young humanoid in his arms for three minutes before she'd finally went still.

Wires. That's what he needed right now. Wires and engines and tech that would distract him from the death he'd just seen.

But first, a wash. He needed to feel clean.

He tumbled into the 'fresher and stripped off his blacks, cranking on one of the sonics. As the vibrations sent tremors along his body, Riggs found himself missing the hot water showers of Kamino. Sonic showers maybe be more efficient, but there was something about water-based showers that felt more soothing.

Riggs shook himself. _I'm a soldier. I don't need soothing. There are people who need it more. Like that girl..._

Once clean, he snatched a new set of blacks from the stack of clothing by the entrance. Riggs leaned against one of the sinks as he pulled on the pants, and as he went to turn and pull on the shirt, he caught a glimpse of his reflection in the mirror, and he paused. 

He'd gotten used to his reflection months ago, but sometimes it still caught him by surprise. 

Puckered white-red skin blotched the left side of his face and upper torso, stiff around his mouth, nose, neck, and shoulder. The flesh of his ear had fused with the side of his head, and his left eye was permanently half-closed. He had no feeling on his left palm, and the rest of the skin on his hand was warped. The heat from the explosion had fried his hair follicles - he could no longer grow hair.

It had been a year since he'd been burned. Riggs had been part of the 107th, fresh off Kamino, stationed on some backwater moon at the edge of Republic space with two other squads. The outpost was being used to investigate a potential alternative fuel source for the cruisers, and Riggs was in his element. He'd discovered he had a knack for vehicles months beforehand, and was enjoying tinkering with the drives and engines.

Riggs had been out on the landing platform, fiddling with a speederbike's acceleration mechanism. The day had been uneventful, and he was killing time by rerouting some of the bike's power. Jolt had come up behind him, asking him – something. Riggs couldn't remember now. Riggs had turned his head to respond, wires held steady in his hand –

An explosion sent him flying backwards.

Dazed, blinded, deafened, he didn't remember what happened next. All he knew was that he was in agony, screaming, curling in on himself as he tried to smother the searing pain encompassing him. He thought he would die – he _wanted_ to die, if it meant the pain would end. 

Blacking out was a relief.

He woke up a week later in a bacta tank, Jolt dozing on the other side of the glass. It was then Riggs found out what happened. The Separatists had disabled the outpost's long-range scanners, and managed to launch a surprise attack on the base. A devastating aerial attack had taken out all of the laarties and speederbikes – including the one Riggs had been working on. If Jolt hadn't pulled him off the landing platform, Riggs would have died.

In the refresher, Riggs shook himself out of the memory. He was burning again. He turned on the faucet and splashed cold water onto his face. He let it roll off him, catching on the ridges on his skin before falling into the sink. The phantom heat faded, and he grimaced, looking back at his reflection. 

A face belonging to a million others stared back at him.  _No_ , he reminded himself.  _This face is mine_ . There was no other clone who looked like him, no one else who shared the pain and memory of his scars. This face was his, and his alone.

Riggs toweled off his face, and as he did so, he rested his right hand on the burns. The skin was coarse and unsettling. He wondered how the girl from the settlement had found comfort in it. He'd removed his helmet so he didn't scare her, and she had reached for his face and rested her small hand against the scarring. Her injuries were too severe; there was nothing he could do for her, and the medics were already stretched too thin. She touched his burns and he held her close until she passed. 

Riggs drew a shuddering breath. He pulled on his shirt and boots, and dazedly made his way to the hanger bay, the palm of his left hand itching.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Didn't go into as much detail as I thought I would, but I still think the point gets across. Been meaning to write this out for ages. May go back and incorporate this into something else later on.


End file.
